Golf Downswing Shoulder Rock Trigger

Two upper body downswing initial moves that are good signs that you are performing all other such moves correctly are the proper movements of your left and right shoulders. The right (back) shoulder should be dipping down and the left (front) shoulder rising up. So simple yet so intricately tied to everything else. Let me give you some examples.

First let’s start with the right elbow. You are supposed to bring your back elbow down to your ribs in the initial stages of the down swing. However, this move is impossible if you do not rock your right shoulder down and left shoulder up. Instead, if you keep your shoulders level or, even worse, raise your back shoulder you are just swinging over the top.

A second piece of advice for golfers is to bump their hips down the target line to start the down swing. Well, if you do this, you will find that your right shoulder will go down while your left comes up. Now, it is still possible to shift your hips and not rock your shoulders appropriately. However, to do this you have to come out of your posture or spine angle. And, you don’t want to do that.

You will also hear that you need to keep your left arm straight and maintain a 90 degree angle between the club and your wrist. Essential the elbow must remain locked throughout the whole downward swing and the wrist cock maintained until you reach waist level. However, people bend the elbow and/or straighten their wrist cock in an effort to bring the club down. Once they realize that the shoulder rock brings the club down they can overcome these problems.

So, if you want to start down the road to more powerful and consistent golf, I suggest you learn to rock your shoulders.

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